


reeling through the midnight streets

by polyamory



Series: 30 days of tw femslash [9]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 30 Days of Femslash, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 05:45:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6892480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyamory/pseuds/polyamory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inside Lydia's heartbeat has slowed, her breathing has evened out. She's asleep. Erica slips in through the open window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	reeling through the midnight streets

**Author's Note:**

> warning for brief, non-graphic mention of injuries and blood

Erica waits outside the window, crouched on the roof, for a long time. First Lydia turns off the light. Erica listens to her settle into bed, twist and turn and tug at the blankets until she's comfortable. Erica keeps waiting. She's cold, the wind whipping at her hair, snaking it's icy fingers underneath her leather jacket. She can still feel her ribs aching from the fight earlier, but she knows if she looks there'll be nothing but a mottled yellow bruise there. The phantom ache always lingers longer than the injury.

Inside Lydia's heartbeat has slowed, her breathing has evened out. She's asleep. Erica slips in through the open window.

It's become some strange kind of ritual, except neither of them ever acknowledges it. Erica goes out and fights. Lydia hears about it from someone and when Erica goes home, bruised and broken, Lydia's window is open, an invitation.

Erica curls up on the carpet beside Lydia's bed, lying on her good side. Lydia is turned towards her, towards the open window, as if she fell asleep waiting for Erica.

Erica stares up at her for a long time while her body settles. She can see clearly even in the dark. The dark swipe of Lydia's lashes, the freckles dotting the bridge of her nose, the slight furrow in her brow. One of her hands lies near the edge and Erica reaches up so that their fingertips are just shy of brushing. Lydia's neatly manicured nails are the opposite of Erica's, covered in dried blood and chewed ragged, an imperfection that not even the bite managed to burn out of her.

They're quite a pair, the two of them, broken girls playing at being whole.

Lydia snuffles in her sleep and Erica glances up at her face, making sure she's still asleep. Those are the rules. Erica comes in when Lydia's asleep and she leaves before Lydia wakes up again. In return Lydia lets Erica lie here, watching her sleep, leeching comfort from her that she can't get from anywhere else because that's how sad her life is.

Maybe Lydia knows about her pathetic crush and she's indulging Erica out of pity, or maybe she doesn't, which just makes this even more pathetic.

She can't talk to the girl she likes so she has to climb in through her window at night to spend time with her. She could not come. Lydia could keep her window closed. And every time Erica is scared that Lydia will, that she'll limp past Lydia's house and the window will be shut. Locked and bolted.

It hasn't happened yet, but Erica's aware that it's only a matter of time before Lydia comes to her senses and stop taking pity on her. So she takes what she can get, these quiet moments away from the world, only the moon as her witness, and keeps her distance at school, where Lydia shines like the sun and she doesn't talk to Erica at all.

She's starting to grow tired, lulled in by the now familiar sounds of Lydia's heartbeat, her breathing. For the next few hours she drifts in and out of awareness, grabbing sleep by the fistfuls, but never for long.

The next time she starts awake the sun is already coming up in the east and she figures, better safe than sorry. She doesn't want to make it weird or overstay her welcome so she goes, careful not to leave any trace that she was ever there. She climbs out of the window and jumps down into the grass, wet with dew. Time to go home and change. School's calling.

 

Lydia always knows when Erica was there. She doesn't know how, since there's never any trace of her, but Lydia still knows, a certainty deep in her bones. What she doesn't know is why Erica always leaves. Every single time, without fault. Lydia's tried waking up an hour earlier, but even then she was alone, a morning breeze drifting in through the open window.

She can't help stealing glances at Erica when they're in school. In class, from across the cafeteria, watching Erica laugh with Isaac and Boyd. Maybe that's it. Maybe it's because Lydia is human, too weak to be of any use in a fight, too slow, too breakable. She could never keep up with Erica.

But she's Lydia goddamn Martin and she's not gonna let some pesky insecurities get in the way of what she wants, which is Erica. Preferably in her bed. Because that's another thing Erica doesn't do, she always sleeps on the floor, at least Lydia assumes she does because she's pretty sure she would notice if Erica crawled into bed with her. She wouldn't mind, but she'd notice.

But Erica never does and at school she acts as if they're strangers and maybe she wants it like that but Lydia sure doesn't. True, one month ago she would never have talked to Erica, too concerned with keeping up appearances for her precious social standing but the world is changing around her and Lydia's hellbent on getting at least one good thing out of it.

She wants Erica and she won't stand for this coward's crap. If Erica doesn't want her she's gonna have to tell her to her face.

So when she gets home she reads up on how to slow your heartbeat, because getting Erica to come to her when she's awake is gonna be a little harder than just closing her eyes and lying real still. But she's a genius and she has a pulse wristband, she can figure this out.

She leaves her window open every night and on Friday she finally gets lucky.

She focuses on her breathing, slows her heart even if it wants to beat out of her chest in anticipation. She turns towards the window and strains her ears for the sound of Erica climbing over the sill.

She waits for a long time. She's almost falling asleep for real when she hears it, barely more than a whisper. Erica moves like a ghost and Lydia has to focus again on keeping her heartbeat steady.

It feels like trying to lure in a wild animal.

 

Tonight was a bad one and it takes Erica longer than she'd like to climb into Lydia's room, between trying to be quiet and trying not to jostle her still healing wounds. She's hesitant to lay down, she doesn't want to bleed on Lydia's carpet, but in the end pure exhaustion wins out. She lowers herself down, her body shrieking in silent protest. She's still bleeding, albeit sluggishly, as her body works to dispel whatever poison is keeping her from healing.

She lies on her back, hoping her jacket will catch the blood before it can seep into the carpet. When she turns her head towards the bed, Lydia is looking at her. With her eyes.

Her eyes which are open.

Lydia is awake.

On any other day Erica would be out of the window and down the street already but now she barely manages to get up on her elbows before Lydia is there, holding her in place.

She takes one look at Erica, taking in the blood on her clothes and whatever her face must look like right now. Her grip shifts as she helps Erica stand up and Erica thinks Lydia is gonna help her get to the window but instead she ushers her to the bed.

Erica makes a noise of protest but Lydia ignores her, pulling the covers back and gently pushing her to sit.

She helps Erica out of her jacket and throws it aside, her hands ghosting over Erica's side, her shoulder, where long gashes curl their way around her torso. She takes off Erica's tank top too and it sticks to her wounds in places. She pulls in a shaky breath and Lydia glances up at her, a small frown on her face.

She balls up Erica's top and starts dabbing at the cuts, her hands covered in Erica's blood.

Erica looks up at Lydia, it's better than watching her work. Her face is thrown into stark relief by the moonlight falling in through the window. Erica's blood looks almost black, Lydia's skin bone white.

When Lydia's done with her inspection she presses Erica down into the mattress. Her shirt goes the same way as her jacket and then Lydia's coming around the bed, crawling under the covers. Erica feels the mattress dip and her body automatically shifts towards Lydia, she can't help herself. Lydia curls up close to her, still watching Erica intently.

Erica notices that she's lying on the far side of the bed, away from the window, and wonders if Lydia did that on purpose. She must be imagining things, she's lost a lot of blood after all.

But then Lydia reaches out to take her hand and Erica could never imagine this, the delicious warmth of Lydia's skin, her thumb rubbing small circles into the palm of Erica's hand.

She can feel Lydia's pulse through the thin skin of her wrist and she falls asleep to the rhythm of it.

 

Lydia starts awake and her hand instinctively tightens around Erica's. She'd promised herself she wouldn't fall asleep, dammit. But it's okay because Erica's still here, sleeping peacefully next to her. The sun is already up and this is probably the longest Erica has ever stayed with her. Her wounds are gone by now, only the dried blood as evidence that she was ever even hurt. It seems impossible to Lydia, the horror of last night still searing in her mind.

But Erica is whole again, her cheeks flushed, her skin warm with sleep. Lydia scoots closer, still holding Erica's hand. She reaches up with the other hand, stroking Erica's cheek.

Erica's eyes flutter open and Lydia pulls her hand away quickly, but Erica's smiling when she turns her head. Her hair is a mess and there's sleep sand in the corners of her eyes and she's so beautiful. The sun snakes its tendrils into Lydia's room just then, coming up over the rooftops, and turns Erica's hair into a wild golden halo.

Lydia feels herself smile. Erica's in her bed and she doesn't look like she's about to leave any time soon and Lydia really,  _ really _ doesn't want her to. She's suddenly glad it's Saturday because that means they really don't  _ have _ to get out of bed.

She strokes Erica's cheek again and Erica smiles at her, slow and tender. Lydia never wants to stop seeing that smile. She reaches up to tug a strand of hair behind Erica's ear, but the unruly curl just falls right back across Erica's eyes, making them both giggle.

Lydia shifts closer by fractions, afraid she'll scare Erica away, waiting with every breath for Erica to push her away, to tell her she doesn't want Lydia like that.

She doesn't.

Instead she pushes closer, into Lydia's space, closing the distance between them. They're nose to nose now, millimeters apart. Lydia wants so badly to close that distance but she can’t. She needs Erica to–

Erica tilts her head, slotting their mouths together. She's hesitant at first but Lydia pushes into it, her hand going to Erica's jaw, holding her close.

They break apart barely enough to breathe, gasping for air. There's a devilish grin spreading across Erica's face and joyous laughter bubbling in Lydia's chest.

She's got everything she wanted right here and Erica wants her back.

She presses a kiss to Erica's cheek, her jaw, her neck, the soft skin of her shoulder.

After all, they've got all day.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at twlesbians


End file.
